


maple leaves

by mqry



Series: one decision away [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Feelings, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Lucy Heartfilia is Bad at Feelings, Realization, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, she's a mess but we love her anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 06:22:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20701385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mqry/pseuds/mqry
Summary: lucy doesn't really want to believe it, and she doesn't even want to think about it anymore but it's like she doesn't even have any control over her thoughts. they just keep going and going and they fill her head of maple leaves and his tinged pink hair -the one where lucy realizes what's meant for her*technically same universe as snow fairy, but can be read as a stand-alone





	maple leaves

**Author's Note:**

> the same universe as snow fairy, but before natsu & lucy even get together. so it can be read as a stand-alone. 
> 
> psa; lowercase intended!!!!

there was a maple tree outside of her apartment. she didn't realize it was a maple tree at first. she'd never seen one up close before, after all.  
  
when she was younger, her mama would tell countless stories of the maple leaf leading two soulmates to each other.  
  
after hearing the stories, she'd drag her mama out and search the entire estate for a single maple tree. she was convinced that if she plucked a maple leaf from its branch, it would lead her to her own soulmate.  
  
unfortunately, they'd never find a single one. there weren't any maple trees in her heartfilia mansion, no matter how hard she looked.  
  
so, she'd never seen a single maple leaf in real life before, until years after her mama died. she was sitting alone in her bedroom when one had landed on her windowsill. she rushed over to it, and stared at it in wonder.  
  
it was red, tinged pink, with its tips a fiery orange. lucy had held it in her hands, holding it to her heart and she could've sworn that she felt heat radiating off the small leaf. she didn't know how long she stood there in front of her window, holding the maple leaf close to her heart and basking in the sweet, crispy smell of the maple.  
  
after bathing in the maple leaf's glow, she had let it rest back on the windowsill, ready to watch it fly out back into the wind. but it stayed right there, even with the wind blowing at it. lucy watched it curiously, and eventually decided to leave it there.  
  
it didn't leave for a long time. it stayed there, in snow and in rain, sitting there on her windowsill. it sat there, giving off its sweet, autumn smell, as if it had no where else to be. through everything, it was there. lucy looked at it when her heart broke, and its soft glow would knit it back together. when she yearned for her mother's embrace, she looked at it and it held her with it's fire warmth.  
  
and then one day, when everything seemed to fall apart, it flew off into the madness of the blowing winds. lucy ran after it, reaching her hand out to catch it, to catch the small leaf that had captured her heart. the small leaf that held all her emotions, her everything.  
  
but it slipped just past her grasp, flying off into oblivion.  
  
lucy had cried for a day when it flew away. and then, the tears stopped. the realization suddenly came to her that it hadn't left her, it was only guiding her to somewhere better.

and the more she thought about it, rhe more she felt right about it in her heart. she no longer found reason for her to stay trapped in a lonely mansion that held nothing but broken memories. there was nothing for her there except for a future she knew where she knew she would be never be happy.  
  
it was time for her to leave, she realized. her little maple leaf and stood by her side and kept her company until she would finally be able to realize when it was time to move on.  
  
so she had packed her things, and followed aimlessly after her leaf. she'd wandered for forever, it seemed, before she'd finally stumbled across the little magic shop near the port of hargeon to in search of a little silver key.  
  
it wasn't until she'd settled in a new apartment that she'd realized it.

it was fairy tail, she'd thought. and it was somewhere better.  
  
so. the maple tree outside her apartment. it was nothing like she'd imagined. it was big and ugly. it laid its roots deep under the ground and had a thick, fat trunk. the branches that stuck out of the trunk were thin and twiggy. there were only a few of its branches that were long and healthy. they were strong and hearty. and all across the tree were red, tinged pink, maple leaves.  
  
lucy had stared for hours at the maple tree, wondering if it had ever sprouted a leaf with orange tips. she'd picked up the fallen leaves, studying each one for the familiar orange color. but she never found a single one with it, and she began to question if her leaf had even really existed.  
  
-  
  
"lucy! let's go on a job!" natsu says to her one day, after she reaches the guildhall in the morning.  
  
"okay!" she answers, her mind wandering to this month's rent. she lets natsu go find a job for the two of them, and she studies the guildmark on his arm as he walks away.  
  
she'd gotten her guildmark in a tinged pink color, the same as her maple leaf. she thought it was peculiar that natsu's was red, the base color of her leaf. in some part of her mind, she wondered if there was any correlation but she always dismissed the thought.  
  
natsu ends up picking a job to capture a group of bandits that apparently plague a grass field near the trade city momiji.  
  
"easy! i'll just turn them all to ashes!" he says, and happy cheers him on. lucy sighs, and shakes the flier in his face.  
  
"it says we only have to capture them! we're not supposed to go overboard," she reprimends, frowning.

natsu seems to consider this for a moment before smiling.  
  
"alright! i'm fired up!"  
  
-  
  
they've decided to set up camp in the field, waiting for the bandits to appear. the stars have already risen in the sky, and it's too dark for lucy to see anything else other than the shiny dots. natsu and happy have already fallen asleep, snoring loudly and breaking the soft silence of the night.  
  
in the middle of it all, lucy lies awake. there's a familiar smell in the air, something akin to honey or something else of the sort. she's not sure, but at the moment, it doesn't matter much because she's too busy thinking about the stars above her.  
  
she's too wrapped up in her thoughts that she doesn't notice natsu's stopped snoring. she doesn't hear the shift in his movements and she doesn't hear the approaching of the carriage. and she certainly doesn't hear the desperate tone of his voice as he calls out her name.  
  
so, when she finally comes to her senses and realizes the danger she's in, she expects her first thought to be of an escape route.  
  
it's not.  
  
it's of a single maple leaf, its base color red, tinged pink and orange tips.  
  
all of a sudden, she's being pushed out of the way, held in somebody's arms, with a certain heat to their warmth.  
  
she doesn't realize that her eyes have been closed until she finally opens her eyes and is staring at natsu's determined face, his hair covering his hair. his tinged pink hair.  
  
"damn it, lucy, why didn't you get out of the way?" he reprimends, and lucy's just a bit out of breath to even think about what just could've happened to her. happy flies over them, his wings giving off a soft sound.  
  
"s-sorry," is all she says, and natsu puts her down. he faces the group of bandits, grinding his teeth and glaring at the group.  
  
"bastards!" he says, and his hands light up with bright orange fire, shining through the dark night. "let's go, lucy!"  
  
a rational thought finally comes to her mind and she pushes away all thoughts of colors and of her maple leaf to the back of her mind. "right!" she replies, reaching for her key pouch. she pulls out her capricorn key and shines it in the starlight.  
  
"star dress: capricorn!" she casts, her outfit changing into her capricon form. natsu crushes his fists together.  
  
"alright! i'm all fired up!" he calls out, a smile spreading across his features.  
  
"aye, sir!" happy exclaims, and lucy nods in determination. she spares a glance at natsu, a glance to see his expression and there's something that's caught in his hair and when she squints her eyes, it kinda looks like a maple leaf and -  
  
and suddenly everything seems -  
  
it seems to crash down. crash all around her, like a revelation that shocks her world, a light that shines too brightly, like -  
  
it's - it's not the right time, not the right moment, she briefly thinks, but it seems so right, in that one moment to be here with him. to be fighting by his side, even if it's just against a group of rowdy bandits that they'll beat in no time at all, and she thinks -  
  
it seems to go by in a blur. a blur where she's not even really there, a blur where she's too busy thinking about cherry blossom hair, and warm orange flames and a burning red guildmark. she's too busy in the blur where she can hardly even realize that their fight is over and she can't take a breath and her mind is going crazy and she can't stop thinking about cherry blossom hair, _his_ cherry blossom hair and warm orange flames, _his_ warm orange flames and that guildmark, that _damned_ burning red guildmark and -  
  
"hey, lucy! we did it!" natsu beams at her, a huge grin on his face and his cheeks dusted red and lucy -  
  
lucy runs away.  
  
\--  
  
she takes the train back home in an attempt to hide from him. she sits there on the train, her hair wild from running, and her face puffy from crying and she doesn't want to believe it.  
  
_natsu_, she thinks. of all people, _natsu_.  
  
and she feels that revelation feeling again, only the high has passed and it's more of a desperate feeling, more like a sad kind of feeling. one where she feels at peace with herself and -

she doesn't really want to believe it, and she doesn't even want to think about it anymore but it's like she doesn't even have any control over her thoughts. they just keep going and going and they fill her head of maple leaves and his tinged pink hair and mama's stupid bedtime love stories -  
  
she realizes that she's stuck on a train that's already delayed by two days, and she's trapped in a cart that seems all too lonely without natsu resting his head on her lap to keep from throwing up, or even happy as he noisily chomps on fish. it's too lonely, she thinks, and even though she's the one who ran away, lucy wants nothing more than to be back with her team.  
  
she almost considers getting off the train, but pushes the thought to the back of her mind in hopes of thinking herself through.  
  
why did she run away in the first place? why was she so shocked that she had seen her maple leaf in natsu? hadn't she already known, in some part of her mind, that her maple leaf had meant to lead her to natsu? to fairy tail?  
  
she lays her head against the window as it finally surfaces. and she doesn't want to think anymore.  
  
-  
  
when she finally returns to magnolia, natsu is waiting for her at the station. he waves his arms above his head cheerfully in order to catch her attention. confused, she heads over to him.  
  
"hey, natsu. listen, about me leaving - " she says, ready to explain herself or come up with a lie about why she did what she did, but natsu interupts her.  
  
"that's okay! but you forgot your share of the reward!" he says cheerfully, the way he always is when talks to her. with a beaming smile that stretches across his entire face, and a soft laugh that echoes his words. he hands a small knitted pouch, and lucy takes it from him.  
  
"th-thanks," she says, still slightly confused but grateful he didn’t press on the topic. she takes a breath, and closes her eyes for a moment.  
  
when she opens them, they land on natsu, who's bickering with happy about something stupid, probably, and lucy can’t help but have her heart skip a beat.  
  
she loves her family, she thinks.  
  
"oi, luce, i forgot to mention! there was another thing we got for you. i think i left it back at my place, though..." natsu trails off, and happy snickers at him.  
  
"natsu! you're so forgetful," happy scolds, and natsu scrunches his face as he strains his brain to remember. lucy lets out a small laugh.  
  
"that's alright," she says. "you can just give it to me some other time."  
  
natsu shakes his head at her."no... i know! we'll just have to bring you back home!" he replies, shining a smile at her again. lucy feels her heart skip a beat.  
  
"hey, wait!" she begins to protest, but he grabs her wrist and begins to run out of the train station.  
  
"come on, lucy!" he calls out, pulling her behind him. she almost wants to stop him, but there's a tingle on her wrist where natsu's holding onto her, and she doesn't really want it to stop.  
  
"okay!" she calls out, and follows after him. she rarely went to natsu's house, as it was somewhere in the midde of the woods. besides, they were almost always at lucy's place anyway.  
  
she wants to get annoyed at that, the way she always does. she wants to get upset, but she knows that she'd gladly take natsu's intrusions over his absence.  
  
she doesn't let herself lull over it for very long, because natsu keeps pulling on her and before she realizes it, they've turned up at his place. he beams at her, and lucy feels that heart-skip again. happy disappears into the house to grab the reward for her, leaving lucy and natsu outside.  
  
"hey, lucy, that reminds me. why did you run off in the first place?" he asks, and lucy shrugs. she begins to rub her arm, and part of her doesn't really want to answer it just yet. her eyes turn away from natsu, just for a chance to get away from his deep, dark eyes, and then they land on -  
  
there's a maple tree. lucy blinks, just to make sure that she's not seeing things. but sure enough, there's a maple tree.  
  
she forgets about natsu's question for a moment, and shuffles over to the maple tree.

her heart beats faster, and her entire body seems to shake. a few leaves have fallen to the ground, and lucy crouches down to grab one of them.  
  
it's red, she sees. red, tinged pink, and -  
  
there are orange tips. orange, fiery tips that glow and give off a warmth like she hadn't felt in so long and -  
  
she looks back at natsu, who's staring at her confusedly. it wasn't long at all since she'd felt it, was it? she'd felt that same warmth everytime she was with natsu.  
  
"lucy?" he'd asked, but she barely registered it with the thumping sound of her heartbeat.  
  
she'd felt it everytime he'd made her laugh uncontrollably. everytime he'd pull her along on a job. everytime he'd try to seek comfort in her arms, and the times she'd tried to find strength from him. she'd felt it everytime he was around her, from the way he'd risk everything for her safety. the way he'd always try to protect her, even if she didn't need it. she'd felt it the first time he grabbed her wrist and asked with a beaming smile - _"you want to be a part of our guild, right?"_  
  
"lucy! what's wrong?" natsu's voice interupts her thoughts and brings her back to reality.  
  
lucy feels tears start to build up in the backs of her eyes, and she shakes her head. "nothing's wrong," she answers. "i'm just... really happy that i'm here with you."  
  
he doesn't say anything more than that, and lucy suddenly can't stop smiling. she feels the tears threatening to fall, tears of happiness, tears because after everything, everything was finally okay.  
  
"lucy!" happy cries out, flying out of the small cottage and carrying a small pouch in his hands. "i found it!" he goes over to her and drops the pouch in her hands.  
  
"thank you, happy," she says, her voice cracking as she opens the small pouch. there's a silver glinting in it, lucy reaches in to find a small silver key glinting in the sunlight. a soft smile spreads across her face and she looks up at natsu and happy.  
  
it's beautiful, she thinks, and she stares into natsu's eyes, shining and bright and filled with warmth, and she can barely keep from having her heart pop out of her chest. she wants to stare into those eyes forever. 

"thank you," she says, her voice barely above a whisper. when natsu smiles, she has never felt warmer. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! i've decided to turn this into a little series about natsu & lucy, so be on the lookout for the next one! 
> 
> please leave a kudos and a comment, they make my day <3 <3 
> 
> upcoming: haunted


End file.
